Ranchers question recovery team on butterfly, Carson wandering skipper is elusive
Posted on Monday, February 09 @ 08:28:06 PST
By Barbara France
Staff Writer
Experts have more questions than answers on how the endangered Carson wandering skipper will be recovered in the Honey Lake Valley.
At a Carson Wandering Skipper Recovery Action Team stakeholder meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 4, ranchers and landowners from the Honey Lake Valley wanted answers to how the Carson wandering skipper will affect their livelihood.
However, action team members said they do not have answers to many of the questions but the first step is to recover the butterfly and possibly delist it.
The team has about 18 months to publish a final recovery plan for the federally listed insect.
A group of about 10 ranchers and landowners wondered how the actions will help or hurt them and if inclusion in the recovery process is voluntary.
Questions ranged from how far does the butterfly fly, what is the quality of the salt grass it uses as larvae habitat, if the population is increasing or decreasing and if the skipper is native to the area.
Many of the questions have no definite answer and much of the known facts are really just assumptions, said Marcy Haworth and Lori Sada, both from the U.S. fish and Wildlife Service in Reno often throughout the meeting.
Sada said the recovery actions are voluntary but abiding by federal regulations enforced by the Endangered Species Act in regard to the skipper being on private land is not voluntary.
The Carson wandering skipper was listed on the federal register of endangered species on Aug. 7, 2002.
One audience member asked how the butterfly got its name and he was told no one really knows but the first observer said it appeared "to wander and flit around."
After learning the experts do not know much about the butterfly and hearing Lori Sada from the say, "Many times we list a species without knowing everything about it," one audience member quipped, "It's a wonder. Maybe it should be called the Carson Wondering Skipper."
The first concern of the audience was with the word protect. Category number one includes 15 actions on how to protect and manage existing populations and essential habitat on public and private lands.
"What does protect mean? Are you going to put a fence around the area?" asked one rancher.